Mississippi Moments Podcast

These are the stories of our people in their own words. From sharecroppers to governors, the veterans, artists, writers, musicians, leaders, followers, all those who call Mississippi home. Since 1971 we've collected their memories. The technology has changed, but our mission remains the same: to preserve those wonderful stories. Listen to Mississippi Moments Monday through Friday. at 12:30pm on MPB think radio.

Charlie Barrett is the former Mayor of Shuqualak (Sugar Lock). It this episode, he recounts the story of how his great grandfather donated the land for the train station. He also recalls how the farmers would bring their cotton to be ginned on Saturday mornings and stay all day.

As a boy, Barrett knew all of the merchants in Shuqualak.He remembers one who would speak to him in Choctaw. Years later, Barrett, now a young business owner himself, struggled to make ends meet until one day, an old merchant made him the offer of a lifetime.

John Ellzie Carr joined the Tupelo Police Department in 1921 and served as the town's chief of police from 1925 until 1952. In this episode, Dudley Carr remembers his father’s natural talent for law enforcement. He recalls the city’s primitive jail and even more primitive alarm system.

In 1932, the infamous bank robber, Machine Gun Kelly held up the Citizen’s National Bank of Tupelo. Dudley Carr explains how the robbery inspired the city to buy its own Thompson submachine gun.

In a podcast extra, Carr looks back with pride at his father’s legacy and what it’s meant to his own career.

Mary Louise Tarver was born in 1918 on Elm’s Court Plantation in Natchez. In this episode, she recalls her Uncle Will’s garden and his prickly relationship with her mother.

Growing up on a farm taught Mary Louise Tarver to enjoy simple pleasures.She remembers riding horseback to the Homochitto Swamp to spend the day fishing.

For Mary Louise Tarver, farm life meant learning to be self-sufficient. She describes how her mother would use apple peels to make vinegar, and use the vinegar to make pickles.

PODCAST EXTRA: During the Great Depression, some schools began serving students a hot lunch using food items provided by government.Tarver recalls how the lunch lady did the best she could with what she had on hand.